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Launched in 1936, the Graf Spee was a German pocket battleship, a heavily armed, lightly armored vessel with enough speed to elude a superior warship. The ship’s official displacement of 10,000 tons (10,160 metric tons) matched the upper limit imposed on the German navy by the Treaty of Versailles, but its actual displacement was somewhat greater. The ship had a top speed of about 25 knots and a range of about 12,500 miles (20,000 kilometers). During World War II, between Sept. 30 and Dec. 13, 1939, the Graf Spee sank nine British merchant ships in the Atlantic. After being attacked by three British cruisers near Montevideo, Uruguay, the ship was permitted to moor in Montevideo’s harbor to make repairs, during which time the British sought to bring in heavy reinforcements. Though only one additional British ship had arrived by the time the Graf Spee put to sea again on December 17, its captain, believing he faced an overwhelming British force, ordered the ship scuttled.

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